Bitter Magic

A deliciously quirky tale of secrets, magic, and illusions.
 
Everything is in place: the packed theater, the Amazing Thummel, and, center stage, the magician''s mysterious assistant. Some have called her the most beautiful woman in Europe.

Then, in a swirl of light, she vanishes!

An astounding illusion, but she never reappears. All that remains are a bloodstained white scarf and her daughter, Cisley, who lives in a glass castle and walks her pet lobster each morning by the sea.

Enter Cole, a rambunctious boy from town and Cisley''s first true friend. Together they hunt for clues to her mother''s disappearance. They puzzle over broken mirrors, ever-shifting labyrinths, a closet full of whispering ball gowns, and a fatal quest for a pure black rose.

Roderic Townley spins a deliciously spooky tale of one girl''s journey to discover what''s real and what is simply an illusion.


From the Hardcover edition.